RACING:Kauto Star returned with a vengeance as he humbled his four rivals in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal. Trainer Paul Nicholls and owner Clive Smith were left running out of superlatives to describe the gelding, who cantered past the winning post 11 lengths clear under a beaming Ruby Walsh.
Although he lost his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown to stablemate Denman in March, there seemed little evidence of any decline on his first outing since his narrow follow-up defeat to Our Vic at Aintree.
Kauto Star, the 2-5 favourite, was kitted out with a sheepskin noseband to match his already striking white face and Walsh had every confidence in him as they lobbed along in third behind Knight Legend and The Listener.
While the fences around the undulating venue are not particularly daunting, Kauto Star did not seem remotely troubled by any of them and even put in a showboating leap at the last to please the large crowd.
Collecting the Betfair Chase and the King George for the third consecutive time remain the eight-year-old's immediate objectives but he was cut roundly in the betting for the Gold Cup with Denman sidelined until the spring.
Kauto Star was generally trimmed about a point for Cheltenham with sponsors totesport and William Hill going 5-2 with Coral 11-4 and Ladbrokes as short as 2-1.
"He was just awesome today," said Nicholls, who took the Grade One with Taranis 12 months earlier.
"He had been doing everything right at home and did a piece of work with Twist Magic three weeks ago that made us think we could run him in anything — two miles even.
"We put the noseband on just because I think it helps him concentrate at his fences and I think it did. We will keep it on now.
"He has not taken anything out of himself today and hopefully it is onwards and upwards for the Betfair Chase in three weeks' time (at Haydock).
"Then there is a month to the King George and he will not run again until the Gold Cup as we want to keep him fresh and well.
"Some people think he was disappointing in the Gold Cup. He did make a couple of mistakes which may have cost him, but the Gold Cup this year was twice the race that he won the year before with Neptune Collonges running well to be third.
"Denman is cantering up the hill at home and to look at him you wouldn't know he'd had a setback, but we will only know if he's back to his best when he gets to the racecourse.
"Certainly on that performance, Kauto will be very hard to beat."
Walsh confirmed: "Last year I was always squeezing him along whereas the year before I could never get him to settle. Today he was much more like that — I was always trying to get him to settle down."
Noland made it a thoroughly pleasing day at the office for Nicholls and Walsh as he demolished a decent field of second-season chasers at Down Royal.
The former winner of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle did not quite live up to his billing in his first year over fences despite a third place finish in the Arkle but he looked a different proposition in the Grade Three Killultagh Properties Ltd Chase.
Sent off the 6-4 favourite on his first run since being beaten by Starzaan at Ayr in April, Noland was under pressure at the downhill fence three from home. However, he responded to make light work of market rival Finger Onthe Pulse to eventually pull 12 lengths clear.
Walsh went on to complete a treble with another easy success on Tony Martin's 3-1 favourite Ross Accord, who was eased right down to take the Rainbow Telecom Handicap Chase by five and a half lengths.